Hockey Field at the Olympic Park

　　    The three competition venues within the Olympic Forest Park—the Olympic Park Tennis Center, the Olympic Park Hockey Field, and the Olympic Park Archery Field. Among them, the hockey and archery fields are temporary venues. After 2008, parts such as the artificial turf will be repurposed for other uses.

　　    [Location and Area]

　　    This hockey field, located in the southern part of the Olympic Forest Park, has a total construction area of 15,546 square meters. It mainly consists of the final competition field, the preliminary competition field, 14 auxiliary buildings, stands, and various auxiliary parking lots and road facilities. The final competition field is situated to the west of the center of the site and accommodates 12,000 seats; the preliminary competition field is located to the east of the center and has 5,000 seats. Among the surrounding 14 auxiliary temporary buildings, 6 serve as backstage functional rooms during the event, and 8 are used as front-of-house spectator service facilities.

　　    [Related Information]

　　    1. High Requirements for Water Permeability and Retention on Hockey Fields

　　    Both the hockey field and the archery field are built within the Olympic Park, with the two venues positioned to echo the tennis center across the park. The construction of the hockey field required developing turf in Beijing’s dry soil environment that could both effectively drain water and retain an appropriate amount—posing a challenge for the project. Currently, the turf for the hockey field has been finalized, and the overall grass layer design is set to determine the optimal solution next month.

　　    The person in charge of the hockey field construction explained: “As an Olympic hockey competition venue, there are clear requirements for multiple aspects including the field’s water drainage and retention performance, ball bounce, foot friction, ball rolling performance, and rolling direction. Among these, the dual requirement of both draining and retaining water presents a new challenge for construction. According to the standards, 35 minutes after watering, the surface must retain an average of 3 mm of water, with no area having less than 2 mm. To achieve this, construction workers employed a five-layer paving method: lime-soil mixture, coarse asphalt, medium asphalt, shock-absorbing turf layer, and artificial turf. This passed the assessment of the International Hockey Federation and met the highest certification standards. It is reported that once completed, this venue will become the highest-level hockey field in China.”

　　    2. Green Olympics:

　　    Green before, during, and after the event. The Olympic Park Hockey Field, with a construction scale of 15,546 square meters, mainly consists of Hockey Field A, Hockey Field B, 14 auxiliary buildings, stands, various auxiliary parking lots, roads, and facilities. Hockey Field A, located to the west of the center, is the final competition venue with a seating capacity of 12,000; Hockey Field B, located to the east, is the preliminary venue with 5,000 seats. During the Olympics, it hosted men's (12 teams) and women's (10 teams) hockey competitions; during the Paralympics, it was used for five-a-side and seven-a-side football matches. As the hockey venue for the 29th Olympic Games in 2008, it saw the awarding of two gold medals—one each for men's and women's hockey.

　　    3. Pre-event Construction Site as a "Green Garden" Embodies the "Green Olympics" Concept

　　    During construction, the building team paid close attention to site cleanliness. The blue hoardings were neat and uniform, publicity boards were well arranged, and roads were clean. Materials, finished and semi-finished products, and waste were all zoned, stacked, and labeled. Throughout the site, material signs, floor passage indicators, and safety warning signs were visible everywhere. In the workers' living area, clothes-drying zones, reading rooms, and shower rooms were set up.

　　    Subsequently, following the approach of “first clarifying division of labor and assigning responsibilities, then enforcing evaluations,” the "garden-like site" was maintained: “Fines for littering cigarette butts; fines for not wearing safety helmets; the site is cleaned daily by designated personnel, three times a day without fail—morning, noon, and evening; no dust allowed on fire equipment; no pea-sized clumps left on-site…”

　　    Over time, “complete the work, use up materials, and clean the site” gradually became the final step of daily construction. Workers consciously disposed of garbage and waste in designated areas, and slowly, it became second nature—turning the construction site into a green one.

　　    4. Temporary Fields Become Green Space in the Olympic Forest Park After the Event

　　    Both the Hockey Field and the Archery Field at the Olympic Park are temporary venues, which will be restored to green space in the Olympic Forest Park after the games.

　　    In addition, to embody the "Green Olympics" concept, sewage from the functional and auxiliary buildings of the archery field is treated in a self-built sewage treatment station to produce reclaimed water for greening and irrigation, achieving zero sewage discharge. The air conditioning system uses environmentally friendly, fluorine-free refrigerants that do not harm the ozone layer, fulfilling environmental commitments to the Beijing Organizing Committee. Energy-efficient solar water heaters are chosen for athlete showers, saving electricity and recyclable after use. Meanwhile, permeable bricks are laid on walkways and plazas to allow rainwater to infiltrate the ground and be directly recycled.

　　    5. Technology Olympics: Emphasizing Technological Innovation and Independent R&D

　　    In the design and construction of the Olympic Hockey Field and Archery Field, all parties actively implemented the "Technology Olympics" concept. In addition to designs for steel structures and solar energy, the construction team from Beijing Urban Construction Group Second Company formed a technology task force. Adapting to actual conditions, they successfully applied new materials and technologies such as “integrated thermal insulation and decorative panels,” “external wall insulation technology,” “stand waterproofing technology,” and “artificial turf technology for outdoor training fields.” This not only increased the technological content of the project but also accelerated progress and ensured high-quality construction for the hockey training field expansion.

　　    The project team cooperated closely with designers to promote new materials and techniques, using “weather-resistant sealant” to seal steel plate joints and German Bayer’s “single-component polyurethane” for indoor waterproofing, solving technical difficulties at the intersection of sloped stands and functional rooms. Additionally, to reduce stand vibrations and noise, the team innovatively changed the original long-direction overlap of grating and stand plates to a short-direction overlap. Testing showed that this small change reduced welding points, saved costs, and effectively reduced noise. The steel structure construction of the hockey field won the Beijing Municipal Government’s “Great Wall Cup” award.

　　    Although the hockey field is a temporary venue, the Urban Construction Group required it to meet the standards of a permanent venue, ensuring functionality and timely completion. Conflicts arose between the installation of color steel plate maintenance for auxiliary rooms and water-electric systems—installing electrical switches, safe washbasins, and mirrors on corrugated iron proved difficult, untidy, and impacted aesthetics. Engineers brainstormed and cleverly installed stainless steel pads at node openings, effectively resolving the aesthetic issue.

　　    The originally designed centralized solar water heating system for showers had long pipelines and poor insulation. Technicians adopted a suggestion from Qin Yunshan, chairman of Urban Construction Second Company, to redesign the system with decentralized solar panels, solving the insulation issue and saving on pipeline. Fireproof panels replaced fireproof coatings to meet safety standards while being recyclable—fully reflecting the principle of running the Olympics economically.

　　    In addition, the hockey field chose artificial turf from an Australian international brand, featuring three key properties: “flatness, water retention, and water permeability,” effectively demonstrating the Technology Olympics concept.

　　    6. From Design to Construction, the Hockey Field Embodies the Humanistic Olympics

　　    During the initial design phase, the hockey field included barrier-free ramps for the disabled in every stand, uniquely designed shower rooms, and 110 restrooms. During construction, despite tight schedules, the team expanded spectator evacuation passages from 1.2 meters to 1.8 meters—also effectively showcasing the “Humanistic Olympics” construction philosophy.

　　    Moreover, due to the multi-disciplinary, multi-trade, and multi-team operation style of the hockey project, coordination and logistical support faced significant challenges. As the saying goes, “An army marches on its stomach.” The Olympic Project Department of Urban Construction Second Company strictly enforced regulations, providing high-standard accommodation and meals for migrant workers, significantly improving their living conditions to ensure solid support for frontline efforts. Measures included: setting up a standardized living area with clinics, activity rooms, and solar-powered showers, cleaned daily; organizing large-scale free medical check-ups for worker health; establishing a night school for migrant workers with bi-monthly training sessions; implementing and enforcing the “Migrant Worker Living Area Management Measures,” “Waste Management Measures,” and “Food Hygiene and Food Poisoning Prevention Guidelines”; and assigning ID cards, residence permits, and worker qualification certificates to all migrant workers, ensuring standardization and institutionalization.